Never Looking Back SYOC
by GottaLuv
Summary: The initiation before Tris was no walk in the park... What happened during Tobias's first year of training initiates? CLOSED
1. (Character Form)

**Here are the main characters! Thanks for submitting :) -GL**

**Dauntless Born -**

**-**Jo Anastasia (Joanna) Griffin

-Finni Eklund

-Jonathan (Jace) Christopher Lightwood

-Claire (Dia) Abbott

**Transfers -**

-Alexander (Alec) Riley

- Mattia (Mattie) Steilsson

-Isaac (Iron) Barrow

-Patricia (Patchy) Collins

-Tabitha (Luna) Hale

-Mariah (Maia) Smith

-Odessa Harrow

-Angela (Annie/Angel) Katherine Carrow


	2. Prologue

**AN: So I'm finally starting this story! Took me long enough, right? Anyway, so I think I have about 12 main characters. (thanks for all the submissions!) There are some things I want to cover first, though.**

**Please don't be upset if your character gets cut or dies or something like that! Also, I'm going to try my best to make the use of the characters pretty even, but there might be some that are more portrayed than others. While using twelve characters this is just how it's going to have to be. Sorry!**

**Setting: The story takes places one year before Tris's initiation. So, if I'm correct, this is Tobias's first year of training initiates. Still, I'm going to make the initiation process the same as Tris's.**

**If you submitted a character, keep in mind that I might have to tweak them a little. There won't be anything drastic, but the Notable Achievements might not be the same, the character might not have romance, and I may have to add/take away fears. I will try to keep them the same, though!**

**Enough, of that super long author's note, let's get on with it! –GottaLuv**

**Prologue**

Patchy's POV:

I sit uncomfortably against the wall of the room. The huge tree, with roots extending like ocean waves, looks inviting while bathed in the afternoon sun. No one is here except me, with my legs crossed tightly and a sea of red hair rippling around.

I don't feel the same today. My Amity qualities aren't shining through like they usually do. Most of the time, my attitude is happy and joyful; all the time, really. But there is something about the day before your Choosing Ceremony. It puts you on edge.

I know where I'm headed. I'm switching to Dauntless for myself, sure. But there is another reason. I haven't bothered telling anyone about it. No, I haven't even told my group of Amity girls. I'm going to Dauntless to find my brother. We were so close… then Ben just left? It doesn't make any sense to me. I remember every Sunday we would stroll through the orchard, biting into candy red fruit and challenging each other to climbing contests. Benjamin always seemed so content, so why would he switch?

For the Dauntless thrill, I guess. It's the same with me. I want that kind of life the Dauntless live. I want it like I want sunshine. Like I want water. Like I want air.

Still, trading one life for another won't be easy. I have no idea what to expect, switching in to Dauntless. Heck, I don't even know where their compound is. Tomorrow is going to be one rough ride. I just… need to find my brother. Then everything will be alright.

When did I start thinking so seriously? I'm gonna go get some bread….

**So… what did you think? Obviously, this was extremely short; I just needed to set it up. What do you think of Patchy (Patricia)? I will try to update as soon as I can. Please review so I know you're reading ****-GottaLuv**


	3. Choosing

**AN: First official chapter! I'm excited ;) After you read, PLEASE review! It would mean so much to me. I'd really like to know how well I'm displaying each character. Later chapters will include multiple different viewpoints, but right now I want you to know how the individuals think. (And yes, this chapter is a little short, but the length will increase with the action!)**

**Thanks! -GL**

Alexander's POV:

Colors file into the Hub. I see the all too bright hues of Amity coming in beside my own group of restricting gray. I loathe the color I wear. The in between color makes me want to rip my robe to shreds. It defines me in a way that the other factions look down upon.

Shuffling feet keep respectable distances from my own. They sound hesitant, like stepping too loudly will offend some one. No one can truly be their self in Abnegation. Everyone is too afraid that showing who they are will take away from someone else.

Once we reach the top, I circle around the edge along with the other sixteen year olds. My green eyes scan the room, calculating. They stop at the faction of blue. The faces behind their fake glasses are smirking. Erudite are always confident, always sure of themselves. I could choose them. My results didn't lie when they said I would fit in fine there. I'm not stupid. In fact, I'm kind of smart. And I know I would have no trouble assuming the personality. I'm witty, and I know it. But my other result, the faction of the free, is too irresistible to pass up… right?

I nod to myself more times than I realized and a red-headed Candor girl next to me gives me a weird face.

"Something wrong with your face?" she asks with a puckered eyebrow.

"Why, are you interested in it?" I smirk.

"Get over yourself, Stiff," she mutters, and faces back towards the center of the room.

"I prefer inflexible citizen," I mutter and lean casually against the wall, amused by the Candor. Before the ceremony starts, I shoot one last, long glance at the Abnegation. The gray locks us in, like a prison cell. We have no freedom, we have no space to grow, to express. There is only time for giving to others, and when one is obsessed with others, they start to lose themselves. I can't, won't be like that.

As the leader of whatever faction is the head of the Choosing Ceremony this year begins talking, I ruffle a hand through my dark brown hair, freeing it from its Abnegation uniform before I am finally freed also.

I zone out at the beginning, thinking about random things, and when I come to we are at the "G's".

"Joanna Griffin," is called. A short Dauntless girl, with light brown hair swirling out as she strides, goes confidently to the bowls. She snatches the knife and quickly swipes a long cut along her palm. Without any hesitation, she drips her blood into the flames. She's so sure, and I wish I could be like her. Not necessarily the part about being sure. I am, too. I will choose Dauntless. The part I envy about her is that you can tell she isn't Divergent. There was not even a sliver of doubt there. For me, there will always be the possibility of another life (an Erudite life). Does this make any sense at all?

We've moved on to "H's". Suddenly, when an "Odessa Harrow" is called forward, movement from my side lurches forward. The Candor girl is walking to the bowls. What is she doing? My last name starts with R and we are in alphabetical order. I narrow my eyes. When the two of us are still relatively close, she turns and whispers to me, with a hand on the side of her mouth, "All the other H's are scared of me, so they moved me".

Of course, Odessa is Dauntless.

Many minutes go by. _Amity, Erudite, Candor, Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, Abnegation, Candor._ The list keeps going. Then, almost unexpectedly, "Alexander Riley" is the name that creeps from the microphone.

My heartbeat is level, my footsteps' paces are normal, and my eyes are dead set on the blade. I take the handle from the face that is growing tired from naming teenagers. I look over each bowl. Five different futures are before me. But, when my sight reaches the flames, I display a dazzling smile.

My blood sizzles on the coals and I see a group of pierced and tattooed faces before me, looking satisfied. Some of them smirk towards the Abnegation section, sitting with, well, stiff postures. Others have crossed arms because of my colors though.

I shift to stand where the other initiates are. I find my way over to where the Jo girl is. I'm so close to her that I nudge her with my shoulder. And no one around us has their mouth agape in shock. I like these people already.

"You looked confident up there," I say flirtatiously.

"Like you would know confidence, Stiff," she replies, slightly rolling her blue eyes.

"Well, not technically a Stiff anymore."

"I won't be accepting the fact that you joined Dauntless until you switch out of the gray," Jo says kind of secluded from the world as she rejoins her focus towards the bowls. Something tells me she has a shell she needs to break out of.

"Fair enough," I say and stare back at the Choosing, awaiting the Dauntless compound.

**The end of Chapter One! Please review! This is my first SYOC, so tell me what you think. How do you like the new characters? My goal is to make each one's voice sound different from the others. I'm not sure how good I am at it though. So any advice about that?**

**Once we get into it, the chapters will probably be longer. Right now, not a lot is going on so there isn't a lot to write about. -GL**


	4. Meeting

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 2! I'm realizing that it is so difficult to keep 12 characters straight in my head. I was originally going to have this chapter longer, but I didn't want to include four points of view when we are just meeting new characters. But next chapter with have the first jumper! So… enjoy! -GL**

Isaac's POV:

The last teen chooses their faction: Erudite. Who would do that? I wonder if they know how boring it will be in the factory of self-righteous know-it-alls. And how the only way you are ranked there is by your intellect. No one cares about personality, or even looks. It is all based on God-given talent, which is completely unfair. Plus, you can't change how smart you are. You can only absorb more information. So no matter what, you are stuck in the same place your whole life. Never moving up. Never moving down. Erudite sticks you in cement and leaves you there to dry. It's the most boring thing on Earth.

And you have no idea how boring it is when your whole life you've been bouncing from foster home to foster home, getting the same speech about how you are "perfectly intact with your outstanding intellect" and it's just- never mind.

Black clothes around me start to shift. Before I know it, the Dauntless are running towards the stairs. I follow on instinct. This is my faction now, and it's already showing excitement. As the leader of the pack pushes open the door to the stairway, yells and shout slowly begin to echo like a roller coaster climbing a hill. The tension builds, the roller coaster screams reach a peak, and then we are a blur of brave soldiers, flooding downward.

Soon, I find my own voice joining the rushing sound. Suddenly, a hard body comes strictly in contact with my shoulder. Turning sharply to my left, I see a Dauntless born, blonde haired guy smiling.

"Hey, smart boy," he says cockily to me. I nod a greeting. I bet he can sense the confusion in my eyes when we burst into open sunlight. We jog continually. There are so many people I can barely see where we are going.

The blonde guy nudges me again.

"I'm Jace," he explains. He has a wild look in his eyes. Jace belongs in Dauntless, I can tell.

Just as I'm about to say my name, he holds up his hand and says, "No, I don't want to know it until we get on that train." That's when I first hear the lightning fast train, coming our way on the tracks. I widen my eyes, earning a chuckle from Jace. Most people have jumped on by now.

Jace jogs by the train and prepares to leap masterfully into the opening. Just before he does, his shout reaches my ears. "Good luck, smart boy!"

It's now or never. I take a glance down at the churning wheels that could glide easily over my body.

My shoulder length, black hair finds the wind and my shoulder finds the hard floor of the train car. Air is knocked out of my lungs, but I still find myself laughing anyway. So much adventure and we haven't even gotten into the compound yet!

Jace stalks towards me, stretching out a hand. I take it with no hesitation.

"Isaac Barrow," I say, though my words are nearly swept away by the wind whistling around.

Jace nods and furrows his eyebrows while looking at my shoulder. "You landed hard on your shoulder and there isn't even a scratch." He laughs a little to himself. "Isaac Iron-shouldered Barrow, welcome to Dauntless initiation."

Finni's POV:

I stand in a corner, crossing my arms and gazing around the train car. Of course Jace is roaming, trying to chat with all the transfers. My blue-green eyes roll, and I keep looking around. To my right is an Amity girl I'm surprised made is on the train. Her hair is brown and she looks like she has given up on speaking to people.

I feel a small tug on my hair from the left side and whip around to see another boy with golden blonde hair. What really catches me off guard are his dual colored eyes, though. One electric blue eye stares at me happily while a vivid green does the same.

"Your hair looks like a crayon," says the Candor transfer, towering above my short body.

"Get away from me," I tell him sharply. It has no effect on him and he continues to tangle his hands in my long curls of aqua dyed locks. Finally, he stops playing around and looks at me.

"I'm Mattia Steilsson," speaking in a blunt way, he stares at me. "But just call me Mattie." Raising an eyebrow at me, Mattie has a questioning look, silently asking for my name.

"Finni Eklund," I reply with narrowed eyes.

"Cool name," he responds, "and your hair is pretty cool, too." Mattie then walks to the edge of the train car and lowers himself so he is sitting on the edge. He swings his feet over the side of the car and my eyes grow wide. There is something about his personality….

Soon, I find my steps going nearer to him. Why the heck am I following this creep? But here I am, sitting in the same position right next to the Candor. I shake my head.

"You're insane…" I mutter. Mattie hears it though.

"Hey, you followed me."

I shake my head. "No, this is nothing scary, sitting on the edge. Just wait until you see the Pitt. I mean your personality is insane… you're like an alien."

He laughs to himself. "I come in peace," Mattie says in a robotic, outer-spacey kind of voice. "You know," he continues in regular talk, "you could be the alien. You're the one with the aqua hair."

I smile a little. "Ya know," I begin, "this could be the start of a wonderful friendship," I finish with a professional sounding accent.

Mattie lifts his chin up and squares his shoulders. "Why yes, Miss Eklund. I most certainly agree," he replies in the same voice.

What the- did I just make a friend. And a _transfer_, too? What happened to me being unapproachable? I'm fine with the friends I already have in Dauntless, and I don't need to add Candor smart-mouths to the list. But I guess… the damage is done.

**Please review! Not much action yet, but we'll get there. I want to make this story last since one of my New Year's resolutions was to write more. For those of you who had their characters introduced here, let me know what you thought of them! It's getting hard to write in different characters' voices so I would really like the feedback so I can make changes if I need to. I'll try to update soon! **

**And yes, THEY WILL GET LONGER! -GL**


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